“Banded Stones and Spheres”

Silverpoint Drawing
6.5×8.5″ blue-gray prepared paper

After all these years it may seem hard to believe, but each time I begin a silverpoint drawing or a painting, it’s as if for the first time. I’m not fixed as to how to proceed with lines or colors though some lines and brushstrokes just feel natural. The spontaneous marks quickly carry the feelings and info that are riding on them and a flow happens.

Silverpoint is a drawing made with a silver stylus on a prepared surface. Some of the earliest silverpoints date back to the 12th century. It was used extensively during the Renaissance era throughout Europe by artists Durer, Holbein, Raphael, DaVinci, Van der Weyden to name only a few.

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“Banded Stones and Sphere”

Silverpoint Drawing
5×7″ prepared paper

This drawing is rendered with a silver stylus on buff prepared paper, with highlights in white pastel and white ink. A silverpoint drawing tarnishes over time to its characteristic metallic sepia tone. In my blog archives and on my website you’ll see many colors that I’ve experimented with on paper and panels: lavender, ochre, pale blue-green, pale green, blue-gray, etc.

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“Secrets”

Silverpoint Drawing
5×7″ prepared paper

These fortune cookies are drawn with a rod of silver on gray-blue prepared paper. This drawing medium, known as silverpoint, pre-dates the graphite pencil and was used extensively during the Renaissance era. Over time the metallic silver lines will “tarnish” to a sepia tone.

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“Striped Stone and Sphere”

Silverpoint Drawing
5×7″ prepared panel

The beach stone and sphere are drawn with silver wire on prepared illustration board. Over time the silver lines gradually tarnish to a warm sepia tone, which is characteristic of this drawing medium known as silverpoint.

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“Three Spheres”

Silverpoint Drawing
3.5×4.5″ prepared paper

Silverpoint is a drawing rendered with a silver stylus on a prepared surface. The lines gradually oxidize (tarnish) to their characteristic sepia tone. The drawing is heightened with white ink and pastel.

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“Split Peas”

Silverpoint Drawing
5×10″ prepared paper

Not really sure what type of pods these are, but they’re great finds, long and elegant. Some of the split ones are curved and twisted, perfect holders for the glass “peas.” See my website for more about silverpoint.

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“Bamboo, Cinnamon, Glass”

Silverpoint Drawing
4.5×8″ prepared paper

From the top: bamboo, cinnamon, glass. Three of my favorite elements drawn with a rod of silver metal on yellow-orange prepared paper, heightened with white ink and pastel. With time the silver will oxidize to its characteristic warm sepia tone.

Silverpointwas used most extensively during the Renaissance era, before the graphite pencil existed. See many other silverpoint drawings of natural objects: animal skulls, seashells, flowers, seedpods - and portraits on my website.

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“Siesta”

Silverpoint Drawing
5×10″ prepared paper

An ordinary glass sphere with natural elements - that idea has been behind much of my work from the 1990s to this point. I’ve stopped wondering why and just go with it.

Cinnamon sticks with glass sphere…I like the contrasting textures and shapes of these objects, and their natural elegance. Look for these in a upcoming painting.

See many other pieces from my Meditations series on this blog and on My Website.

Please email me for purchase of this silverpoint drawing for $100.

“An Elegant Shell”

Silverpoint Drawing
5×7″ prepared paper

Nature constantly inspires! I’ve seen many lathe-turned wooden vessels whose shapes are similar to the body of this elegant shell.

Silverpoint is a drawing that is rendered with a wire of silver. This was used extensively during the Renaissance era, before the graphite pencil simplified things. The drawing surface must be “prepared” with a slightly textured formula that lightly abrades the silver. The metallic silver lines that are left will gradually tarnish (oxidize) to a sepia tone.

I prepare fine papers and panels with various tints of color: ocher, blue-gray, salmon-pink, green-gray and lavender. Visit my website to see a broader range of work in silverpoint and my other mediums.

“Sphere with Pin-stripes”

Silverpoint Drawing
4.5×5″ prepared paper

This is drawn with a rod of silver on specially prepared fine art paper. Silverpoint pre-dates the graphite pencil as a drawing medium and was used extensively in the Renaissance era. With time the silver lines tarnish to their characteristic sepia tone.

Visit My Website for more on this and for a look at my home-made silverpoint drawing tools and box.